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Thanks for your patience,

H.K

I just screamed out loud with joy...

So ! Good news for those who were worried, I just got the test results back from my chest core biopsy... nada ! Zip ! Zilch ! Clear !! Whooooooooooott !!!!!
So we are now very clear that this cancer has not spread, we are not stage 4 but stage 3, and I only have to worry about breast cancer ( just breast cancer, normal..)
1,2,3.. aaannddd.. we're deeply breathing.............
For those confused, they found a small suspicious mass close to my heart's aortal wall in my chest cavity, if that had tested malignant then we would have been looking at a stage 4, serious business diagnosis.
Good news folks, sending love, blessings and thanks to all of you xxxx

Technical difficulties.....

So my loves I hear that some of you are only seeing photos with no posts, that issue should be fixed now....feel free to contact me or HK if you notice any problems.

As for those that are frustrated that they can't post on the blog, just remember that this is a personal blog and is formatted differently to something like facebook, you just have to go through me first, so if you want to post something about a fundraiser or whatever, simply email it to me and I'll copy that onto the blog, or if you need to surprise me, then send it to my favourite technical advisor Sully (aka HK), you'll find him in the community group at the right of the page.

If you just want to add some encouraging words then feel free to comment on any of my posts or photo's by clicking where it notes the amount of comments (no comments, 2 comments etc..) under any post, I'll publish it on the blog as soon as I see it.
Last but not least, be sure to sign up in the community or member section and submit your email address to receive an update every time I post something new, both can be found at the right of the page.

Sending love and kisses,

Aisling xxx

Bless me Father for I have sinned..... it's been two weeks since my last update...

Eh, three hail Marys and a decade of the rosary there Aisling and mind it doesn't happen again.....

I thought we'd start at the very beginning of all of this and get some of you who haven't a clue what's going on up to speed.. Where to begin, well, I first noticed the lump in my right breast around September of last year, around the time that my dearest mam Milly was being diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer. I thought and hoped that it was benign and would go away and put it to the back of my mind and focused on her.....ye feckin eedjit says you, indeed, but I was so consumed with the possible death of my mother and the all encompassing cancer swamp that had taken over my family, that I simply couldn't imagine another Mul with cancer. Milly fought with grace and was an absolute champion is every respect but her time was up and my darlin' dad Pat Mul was beckoning to her, so off she went.....

A month and a half later I'm back in San Francisco and trying to get on with it, finally I tell someone about the lump and being a dear friend she urges me to get it looked at, I get a breast biopsy and wait for the results, the whole week praying for a benign outcome..........Coming home from work on the train I get the call from the doc who casually tells me the results came back as cancer. I had the textbook response of hearing the words but not actually taking them in....I have always danced my way through everything and this time was not to be the exception....I can't have cancer I feel fine... as I think this I fade back into hearing him talking about mastectomy, chemotherapy, radiation and the whole shebang, going on and on, barely giving me a second to digest the news, I start to hyper-ventilate and then I start crying, let's just say that was not an easy evening.

It's early March and I begin the merry go-round of out-patient visits, firstly to San Francisco General and then onto my second opinion at the nationally renowned UCSF hospital, where I felt I had found a better fit with my oncologist and surgeon. It's been two months of solid testing, 20 mammograms, 20 breast biopsies, CT scans, bone scans, MRIs and PET scans, which ended last Friday with a chest core biopsy, where they had to go through the lungs from the back and carefully avoid piercing the aorta, terrifying and painful and lets just say I'm glad to have a fully inflated lung and an intact aortal wall. AMEN !!!!
That little something that showed up in a scan near the heart will hopefully come back as benign and we'll know exactly what we're dealing with.

My life has been a whirlwind of work, hospital visits, online research, reading books, talking to survivors and experts and generally trying to catch up as fast as I can, all the while trying to remain calm.... It's no joke folks, this pile of cancer doo-doo is a full-time job and it truly takes over your life. Most days I feel strong but sometimes my heart and mind is taken over with fear and negative thinking, which is a killer with cancer, so I turn it around by imagining myself beaming with health, all this behind me and living life completely.

My diagnosis thus far is stage three, (based on the size of the lump) triple negative http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple-negative_breast_cancer, lobular breast cancer. My team At USCF want me to do 5 months of chemo, followed by a lumpectomy.
I have decided to step back from the pressure to rush into chemotherapy and weigh up all my options, do the research and figure out which course of action will serve my health and recovery best. As many of you know I have always been a firm believer in healing and alternative medicine and am looking for a whole mind, body and spirit approach to this illness, getting a broad and full picture as to why this happened and how to prevent it from ever recurring. To me just accepting one doctors opinion as the ultimate truth without looking any deeper or looking at alternative options is unwise, so while I'm open to both traditional and alternative methods, I need to make the right choice for me, for my body and ultimately my survival.

It's easy to get obsessed with the pathology and treatment of a disease, lord knows it's all the oncologists focus on, what's easy to forget is that there is a person underneath the diagnosis and treatment plans, who is going through a lot, so next time you speak to someone going through this or any serious illness, instead of focusing on the illness and the treatment plan, maybe ask them how they are and leave space for an answer.....

Well my loves now you're all caught up, it's time to rest so I'll sign off for now, sending you all loads and loads of open hearted love,

Aisling xxx

Some recent photos....

Beloved family at Outerlands

Golden hour in the Outer Sunset...

Hey everyone !!!XX

Hello to all friends, elders and youngsters, past and present, well, to anyone who has had the pleasure of being graced by Aislings beauty, spirit and love. I am her baby sister, and I love her with all of my heart. She has always given me her love and support through the happy and troubling times of my life. she never faltered in her strength of support, always giving me a rainbow to focus on in life, by listening with an open heart. I know how much she lit up the hearts of our late mam and dad, and how much she continues to do so for Rossa, Miriam and myself, always making us smile and laugh. When Aisling told me she had contracted breast cancer, I was terrified and frustrated by the idea of her getting sick and confronting her mortality at such a young age. I hope with everyone's help and support, she can find the time and space to fight, rest and recover from this sickness. I know that we all want to find a way to reach out to her and I hope that through this blog, people can stay in touch with Aisling and her progress.

I wanted to explain to all who visit that we have provided an option to support Aisling by donating money. I feel that Aisling would never want to put anyone in a position where they feel obliged to donate, so please feel free to show your support in any way that you wish. Simply knowing that she has lovely people out there wishing her well will boost her spirits and greatly enhance her sense of recovery. If you do feel that you would like to donate some money, click on the heart towards the top right of the page and you can do so through PayPal. Financial support would help her to pay for cancer specialists that are not included in her insurance and also help with the cost of recovery. I feel all this support will help her to focus on getting stronger, because when we are sick we all need to stop and rest so that all of our energy can be put towards recovery. Ais has been trying to fight this independently but if we can all pull together we can really help and change her situation in our own little ways. Thank you to everyone who wants to reach out to her in any way.

Maeve xxx